Pilot Cars

Things to do and have:
A good cb, that can be heard clearly. No need for a "big" radio, just a good clear one.
All the right stuff, signs, flags, safety stuff like vests etc, all required certifications like UT or NY, good light bar, clean appearance, not having to stop every45 minutes to pee or get gas, be early every morning and not just on time, get pens etc to hand out, pay attention and know the route, service and look after your vehicle, carry tools and spares, ask the driver if he/she needs anything before you leave for the day, work hard and help with loading/unloading if needed, and so on.
Things not to do or have:
Look like a bum, have ragged out crap on your vehicle, not pay attention, turn up late for any reason besides an emergency, not service your vehicle, not have the stuff you need or are required to have by law, and so on.

Martin

 

Well if you had posted an hour sooner I would have given you a shot taking me from the rest area there in Ringgold to Savannah on Monday with a 20' wide.

But to answer your question, the first thing I look for is professional. Professional appearance, professional looking equipment and most of all a professional attitude. For me the stuff I'm hauling is very high profile and valued in the millions of dollars each load. I don't want someone showing up in a beat up old piece of junk vehicle with taped on signs, half working lights etc. Our customers build multi-million dollar airplanes and they view the pilot cars as extensions of the truck. Just last week I rolled in with a set of wings and the person buying the airplane was there to see them arrive, having junk looking pilot cars or less than professional appearing pilots doesn't look good to the customer and when the proverbial crap rolls down hill it lands on me. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to have "new" stuff, just clean and well maintained stuff. Don't run yourself into the ground financially before you even get going trying to have a new vehicle, new flags, new lights etc. Just take care to make what you have look and work the best it can. My best pilot runs a 10 year old pickup with a half million miles on it but she takes care of it and it shows.

Know your routes, of course this comes with time on the road but it really helps when my lead car tells my rear car a mile before we get there that there's a narrow bridge and I'll need both lanes. Keep a sharp eye on everything, the shoulders, debris in the road, approaching cars at intersections, cars turning left at the top of the on-ramp (good clue the truck will have merging ramp traffic). Idle chat is for mornings drinking coffee waiting on curfew or evenings at the diner table, not on the CB going down the road. Don't show up first thing in the morning with a giant Mountain Dew when your driver is looking at covering 500 miles that day. Me personally I try and stop about every 200 miles or so to give my pilots and state police escorts a break but there are days that stopping is not really an option other than for gas.

When your following, tell the driver what's coming up, watch them on corners for obstacles etc. I like to hear lots of talk from my rear pilot when making turns, I can't see everything especially 20'+ wide and it really helps to have a good set of eyes with me.

Finally, a DARN good radio, not a hacked up radio man special with echo and all that crap, just a good radio with a good antenna and a good mic. Keep a spare radio and for that added touch, keep a portable (walkie talkie) so when you go to park your driver for the night you can hop out, walk behind the load and tell him/her what your seeing instead of trying to rely on hand signals.

Now the down side, the first thing I will fire a pilot for is being late. If I say we're rolling at 07:30, I expect my pilots to be there and READY to roll at 07:30. If you show up at 07:30 then have to put your signs, flags etc. on, don't bother, I'll already be on the phone calling for a new pilot. If something happens and your running behind, call me but don't call me and tell me some line of BS just because your hung over from spending the evening at the strip joint. Just happened to me a couple weeks ago, pilot never called and showed up 10 minutes late holding up myself, another pilot and 2 state police. Needless to say we waited another hour on a replacement pilot. Make sure your gassed up, nothing and I mean nothing excuses sitting all night then getting 100 miles down the road and hearing "Oh, I forgot to gas up this morning, we need to stop". Again, common sense but it just happened to me a couple months ago. Needless to say when we pulled off so he could get gas his replacement was sitting there waiting to go. Post-trip your vehicle just like a truck at the end of the day, find something wrong and you've got all night to take care of it. Stuff happens and goes wrong, I just lost 3 hours today because I didn't catch a blown wheel seal last night so I understand when there's a mechanical failure, it happens but do everything you can to avert them.

And finally, BE PROFESSIONAL, your running a business not taking a family road trip. Look the part, act the part and don't be afraid of asking questions, most OD drivers are willing to help. I really wish you had posted a couple hours ago, I would have gladly given you a shot on Monday with a super-load including state police escorts. PM me your number and I'll try and get you on one of my loads for a trip.

 

One other thing, I'll be rolling into the rest area there in Ringgold tomorrow afternoon and parked there till Monday morning, feel free to drive down and visit. I don't profess to know everything (actually very little) but if you look back through my posts on here I do a lot of big oversize and would be more than happy to brew a pot of coffee and have a visit with you.

 

One other thing, besides what has been mentioned already.
Try to get some good UHF radios when money allows. I run them with my steer car exclusively. The CB is on for the fronts, but when I am turning at 190' long, I need to hear Cody 110% clear. I use Kenwood's, and they are excellent.
I also run 2 CB's. Not a the same time, but to have a backup that I can just turn on in case of my main one taking a dump. No stopping to wire stuff up etc that way.
Also, try to get a couple of gas cans and keep them full. Cant always top near a gas station, and being able to drop another 5-10 gallons in it yourself will keep you working.
Martin

 

To add to the above:

My brother and I are general contractors. If I have a sub contractor come to one of my jobs, and he has his girlfriend sitting in the car because 'she has nothing better to do', I send him home. Why? Because he's going to show up late, take a long lunch and quit early. And they're going to have a fight on my property, cops are called...etc.

Same thing goes with pilot cars. If she has her PPE gear on, road atlas in her hand, thats cool. If she's sitting shotgun because she has nothing better to do, go on home. Big loads take time. I'm gonna run maximum miles. It's going to be a long day and you dont need distractions.

 

Front AND rear signs please. And in most states it is also a requirement. No telling when a rear car will have to jump up front for traffic control, and vice versa. Not to mention the legal part.
Some require overhead signs only, and do not recognize bumper mounted signs.
2 flags? Get more, and decent ones at that. If wooden dowels, make sure they wont break in the wind. If you want to impress drivers, get the quick release spring mounted ones. They work good, dont break, and cost less in the long run.
Get NY or UT certification yet? You'll need it. My escort got pulled over 2 weeks ago in NC, to make sure she had UT or NY certification and the right insurance. State patrol on I40, so they WILL check at a scale etc too.
Ga light sticker (IIRC), and Nv light cert? I know NV makes you have a certificate to run a light bar.
Height pole bracket on there yet? Kinda hard to run pole up front without one.
Cones?
There is a LOT of pretty expensive equipment involved in setting up a pilot car that can do everything, as you are no doubt finding out.
We delivered to one site last year that did pilot car inspections. Dont have ALL the required equipment? Out you go and dont come back onto that site.
Every year that wind energy is busy, it seems like any idiot in a minivan calls themselves a pilot car. I fire most of them, as do lots of others, but some just put up with them and the dummy's keep working somehow.

Martin